Rodney Crowell

Failed bull-rider turned seminal songwriter, Rodney Crowell is regarded as a Texas troubadour, trailblazing icon, and songwriter that good songwriters reverently admire.

Alongside his well-decorated career as a performing artist—one that has awarded him multiple Grammys and fifteen number-one hits—Crowell has written songs covered by artists ranging from Johnny Cash to the Grateful Dead. The gravity of his talent and prolific body of work is made all the more interesting in the context of lifelong friendships that shaped the path of his songs and career. Waylon Jennings, Keith Urban, Willie Nelson, Etta James, Emmylou Harris, Van Morrison, Jeff Tweedy, Foghat, Vince Gill, Jimmy Buffett, Bob Seger, and John Denver are just a few examples of the ever-expanding list of friends and artists he has worked with or who have taken one of his songs and made it their own.

Born and raised in Houston, Texas, he made his way to Nashville and fell in with the rough and sensitive songwriting scene of the ’70s, comprised of Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle… you get the picture. Forty years on, Crowell is now cited as one of the chief architects of Americana music.

Beyond his induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and his magnate status among his songwriting peers, Crowell has branched into the literary world during his career. First with his acclaimed memoir, Chinaberry Sidewalks, and next with his album KIN: Songs by Mary Karr & Rodney Crowell, he has found his way around the review section of The New York Times. Karr, the New York Times best-selling author and titan of haunting colloquialism, said of working with her cohort: “Like Hank Williams or Townes Van Zandt or Miss Lucinda, he writes and croons with a poet’s economy and a well digger’s deep heart.”

Crowell was honored with ASCAP’s prestigious Founder’s Award in 2017. That same year, he released the album Close Ties, which earned another Grammy nomination for It Ain’t Over Yet with Rosanne Cash and John Paul White in the category of Best Americana Song. 2019’s Texas was a collection of Lone Star-centric collaborations with Ringo Starr, Willie Nelson, Ronnie Dunn, Steve Earle, and more.

In 2023, Crowell released the Jeff Tweedy-produced record The Chicago Sessions, adding to his running tally of Grammy nominations.

Crowell lives in Tennessee with his wife, Claudia, has four daughters, and laments a long list of beloved dogs who left him too soon. He grows squash, tomatoes, green beans, and sunflowers in the summer, tunes in when the Olympics come around, writes every day, has material for a hundred years’ worth of records, and prefers his technology uncomplicated.

T Bone Burnett

T Bone Burnett is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer known for his work blending rock, folk, and Americana. Emerging as a guitarist in Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue in the 1970s, he later formed The Alpha Band before launching a solo career. As a producer, Burnett has shaped the soundtracks of iconic films like O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Walk the Line, earning multiple Grammy Awards. His collaborations span artists such as Robert Plant, Alison Krauss, and Elvis Costello, cementing his reputation as a master of roots-based storytelling and atmospheric production.

Mike Campbell

Mike Campbell is an American guitarist, songwriter, and record producer best known as the lead guitarist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Co-writing many of the band’s hits, including Refugee and Runnin’ Down a Dream, Campbell played a crucial role in shaping their signature sound. Beyond his work with Petty, he has collaborated with artists like Stevie Nicks, Don Henley, and Johnny Cash. Following Petty’s passing in 2017, Campbell joined Fleetwood Mac for their 2018–2019 tour and later formed his own band, The Dirty Knobs, showcasing his bluesy, rock-driven guitar style.

Vince Gill

Alyssa Bonagura

A songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, she’s spent the past decade fine-tuning a sound that reaches far beyond her Nashville roots. It’s a sound that blurs the boundaries between genres, mixing the southern storytelling of country music, the free-thinking spirit of rock & roll, and the cinematic sweep of Brit-pop into its own hybrid. For Alyssa — a lifelong road warrior who spent her infancy aboard a tour bus, recorded a duet with Kenny Rogers at 10 years old, received her college diploma from Sir Paul McCartney, and currently balances her critically-acclaimed solo career with an ongoing gig writing songs for Jessie James Decker, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, and others — it’s also a sound that’s every bit as diverse as her own story.

Years before releasing 2021’s single “New Wings,” Alyssa grew up in Tennessee, an only child raised by parents who sent nearly a dozen songs toward the top of the Billboard charts as leaders of the country band Baillie & the Boys. “I was three weeks old when my parents landed another Top 10 single,” she says. “My mom said, ‘Alright, let’s take the kid on the road,’ and I grew up on their tour bus. My life was waking up in a different city every day and singing with them. I wanted to be just like them.”

Back home in Nashville, she bonded with her father over a shared love of music production and songwriting. Together, they converted the family attic into a home studio, where Alyssa began layering her vocals with a mini-disc recorder. By 16, she was recording her own songs, making sense of the outside world by turning her trials and triumphs into music. She landed her first national tour that same year, opening 50 shows for fellow genre-bender Marty Stuart, and became a go-to session singer for artists like Matt Maher and Vince Gill.

Being on the road felt natural, even for a teenager who’d just discovered the joys of home recording. “I’ve been a traveling gypsy my whole life,” Alyssa explains. “I’m a storyteller who’s always on the move, and I’ve been inspired by all walks of life. At a young age, I learned that we are all different, and we shouldn’t have to conform to any singular label. I applied that lesson to my music. My songs aren’t supposed to be confined to a box or a genre — they’re just who I am.”

Producing her own songs often required Alyssa to play her own instruments. An ear-trained pianist, she learned to play guitar, mandolin, bass, drums, and more. She drew her inspiration from an equally wide range, listening to everything from her parents’ old-school favorites — including Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, and Fleetwood Mac — to millennial musicians like John Mayer and Dashboard Confessional. Above all, she loved the Beatles — a love that only deepened when she relocated to England to study sound technology at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. When she graduated in 2009, she received her diploma from the school’s co-founder, Sir Paul McCartney.

Living in England for three years left a permanent mark on Alyssa’s music. She was drawn to the complex chord progressions of the Beatles, the atmospheric soundscapes of Coldplay, and the folk-pop sounds of the country’s Americana community. All of it found a space in her own songwriting. Making waves in the British scene, she opened for Ringo Starr as a member of Pete Wylie’s band, The Mighty Wah!, then played an acoustic set at Glastonbury Festival as a solo artist. Following a UK tour opening for Raul Malo of The Mavericks, she returned home to Nashville and signed a publishing deal with Rondor Music International, kicking off a new phase of her multidimensional music career.

The English Diaries, her full-length debut album, arrived in 2010, followed two years later by Love Hard. Her pop song “I Make My Own Sunshine” was featured in a Lowe’s commercial and was later covered by rock legend Steven Tyler on his chart-topping country album, We’re All Somebody From Somewhere. 2016’s Road Less Traveled found Alyssa returning to her Americana roots, while a long history of additional opportunities — such as writing and producing songs from Jessie James Decker’s Number 1 country album Southern Girl City Lights; co-writing and singing on Nelson’s Top 40 adult contemporary hit “This Christmas;” and landing singles with Jana Kramer, Sarah Jarosz , and Jo Dee Messina — showcased the broad range not only of her musical interests, but her abilities, too. So did her time spent in The Sisterhood Band, a major-label country duo whose whirlwind career included two EPs, critical acclaim from Rolling Stone, and a run of UK stadium shows as Rod Stewart’s opening act.

Alyssa Bonagura resumes her solo career — and scales new heights — with New Wings, an album created during the pandemic. When the global health crisis brought her gypsy lifestyle to a halt, she found new ways to chart unexplored territory without leaving her home studio. Using Zoom, she worked with producer friends Davis Naish (Eric Church), Tom Jordan (Seaforth), and Tawgs Salter during a series of virtual collaborations, steadily building a record about transformation and transition. Following advice given to her by Coldplay’s Chris Martin, she also embraced a rule-breaking, genre-jumping sound that made room for country, folk, R&B, and everywhere in between. On a record filled with sparkling sonics and the occasional high-powered guest appearance, though, it’s Alyssa Bonagura who shines the brightest, delivering songs rooted in struggle, survival, and the soaring feeling of flight.

Carolyn Dawn Johnson

The life and career of hit singer-songwriter Carolyn Dawn Johnson (aka CDJ) has been a tapestry vibrantly colored with musical notes and journeys in many directions. Her road has been well-travelled, full of a variety of musical endeavors and accomplishments. 20 years after her initial trend setting success, she remains a force and go to in the country music industry and a live performer that leaves the audience hanging on every word.

“I’ve always wanted to be honest in my music & write things that are real to me, then interpret it for the audience with my voice so they feel something” Johnson says of her songwriting and artistry.”

Johnson was named Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year in 2000 by Music Row, and has continued to carry that title well as one of the town’s most loved and respected tunesmiths around. Writing accomplishments are vast including recordings by Chris Stapleton, Rebecca Lynn Howard, Patty Loveless, Lennon & Maisy Stella, Mindy McCready, Kathy Mattea, Pam Tillis, SheDaisy Lila McCann, Suzy Bogguss, Linda Davis, Jo Dee Messina & including the ground breaking #1 song sung by Chely Wright, Single White Female.

After inking a record deal with Sony’s Arista Nashville in 2000, Johnson produced music of her own with the release of her debut album titled Room With a View. The critically acclaimed project spawned the Top 5 smash “Complicated,” on the country charts also climbing the AC charts as well. She had other hit singles such as “Georgia” “Simple Life” and “I Don’t Want You to Go.” During that time, Johnson criss-crossed the country on many high-profile tours as the opening act for the likes of Reba McEntire, Alan Jackson, Kenny Chesney and Keith Urban. Her albums to follow included Dress Rehearsal in 2004, and her independently released Love & Negotiation in 2006 and Love Rules in 2010.

Besides laying down vocals for her own albums, Johnson’s angelic voice can also be heard on several outside projects with Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Jana Kramer, Johnny Reid, Blake Shelton, Dan+Shay, Brett Kissel, Drake White, The Eli Young Band, Darius Rucker, Lauren Alaina, Kenny Rogers, Loretta Lynn, and Patty Loveless. In addition to the side work with other artists, Johnson has also garnered such elite titles as the Canadian Country Music Awards’ Producer of the Year in 2004 and 2009 for her hand in producing one of many Canadian-based projects in recent years.

Through it all, the multi-talented Johnson continues to chip away at her own craft. She expanded her repertoire and wrote a song with the multi-talented singer/actresses the Stella sisters (Lennon & Maisy) and it developed into a children’s book called, “In The Waves” released on her birthday in 2015. In 2014 & 2015 she spent time on the road singing background vocals & playing guitar for Miranda Lambert on her Platinum tour. To date, Johnson has racked up 17 CCMA’s, as well as being crowned the Academy of Country Music’s Top New Female Vocalist in 2002. The American Music Awards hailed her as Favorite New Country Artist the following year. Before the pandemic, CDJ spent a couple years writing, recording and touring with the all acoustic band JD & The Straight Shot, based out of New York. Always doing some of her own solo shows, she is also currently doing a variety of dates with her talented friends Jamie O’Neal and Anita Cochran, calling themselves the 3 Blondes Rock into a Room, as well as opening and singing and playing guitar for the legendary Martina McBride. CDJ is working on a new album slated to come out 2024.

Dave Berg

You would think being a stunningly successful country songwriter at the peak of your career would be enough to keep a guy satisfied. You haven’t met Dave Berg.

In 2010, with enough laurels to last a lifetime, Berg disappeared into his home to write the album he always wanted to do — something no career planner would have advised him to do.

Now, with the release of his third and most fully-formed solo album, Not Quite So Alone, Dave has carved out an independent — yet parallel — space away from the Nashville world he has called home for more than a decade. And the results, while stunning, are unlikely to surprise anyone that’s familiar with the honest and earthy work he’s done with artists ranging from Reba McEntire to Darius Rucker, and Jewel to Keith Urban. “I just like music that’s real”, he says “ whether it’s delivered in the form of pop, rock, country or hip hop makes no difference to me.”

Through lyrics suggestive of Dylan’s, and a voice that’s been compared to Tom Petty’s, Berg stakes out new and refreshing territory in a career that has had far more peaks than valleys. Taken together, the 14 songs on Not Quite So Alone comprise a cohesive, sophisticated mood.

“I can’t say the timing for making this record was the greatest, but then again I can’t say I had much of a choice either.” he says “Sometimes as a songwriter you wonder if you have anything left to say; and if you find you do, you’d better take the time to say it.”

Born and raised in Portland, Ore., Dave actually cut his teeth in rock bands. He certainly never intended to become a country songwriter, but in 1995, found himself with a Top 5 hit, “I Want My Goodbye Back” recorded by Ty Herndon.

“Where I grew up, you didn’t listen to country. It wasn’t cool. But I kept watching CMT and I’d think, ‘wow, the lyric in that song is incredible’,” he says.

So, with a hit single climbing the charts, Dave decided to take the plunge and make the move to Nashville.

“I came here because at the time, LA didn’t quite feel right for me,” he says. “I got here and I discovered quite an amazing community that crosses all genres — not just country. It’s kind of a well-kept secret that’s finally getting out.” Jack White, Ben Folds and the Kings of Leon, he points out, all live in Nashville.

He became a staff writer for such companies as Crossfire, Reba McEntire’s Starstruck Writer’s Group, which was acquired by Warner Chappell where he stayed for a couple of years.

Music publisher, Mike Molinar and Daniel Hill signed him to Cal IV, where he eventually started a long string of hits with major country artists.

“I think Nashville is the Harvard of songwriting,” he says, only half-joking. “And I’d venture to say that I’ve probably got more out of my education than most, considering the hands-on experience of writing with some of the best tunesmiths in the world.”

During these years, Dave recorded and released two of his own pop/rock projects, Three Perfect Days (1999) and Surface (2003).

But it was hard to dismount entirely from the five-days-a-week songwriting treadmill, especially given his run of success: In 2004 he scored his first #1 country song (“Somebody” recorded by Reba), which lead to a non-stop focus on songwriting for the Country market, and a streak of hits singles.

This streak would result in five #1 songs, and many awards and honors including being named 2008 ASCAP Songwriter of the Year, 2007 Billboard and NSAI Songwriter of the Year and writing the 2007 Billboard & ASCAP Country Song of the Year, “If You’re Goin’ Through Hell” recorded by Rodney Atkins. Another number one song, “Stupid Boy” (recorded by Keith Urban) earned Keith a Grammy for Country Male Performance of the Year.

But, there he was in 2010, with a song he needed to get out of his brain and an itch to charge his creative battery. And once he started writing, he knew he had a lot more he needed to do for himself. So he took a break from his busy writing schedule and allowed himself to take a musical departure.

“It was hard for me to do, to just disappear when you’re at your peak,” he says, “And, truth be told, I’ve never had much luck playing it safe anyway. I was worried a lot of people would think ‘What have you done?’ But it turned out not to be that at all. They understand the need to go and do that.”

They’re going to love what they hear.

Jaime Moore

Jamie Moore is a four-time Grammy nominated songwriter and producer from Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Jamie honed his craft as a multi-instrumentalist and soon after he arrived in Nashville, began rising to the top of Nashville’s songwriting community. He has a catalog of multi-genre hits and songs recorded by an impressive list of artists such as Carrie Underwood, Toby Mac, Chris Lane, Bren Joy, Blake Shelton, Florida Georgia Line, Tim McGraw and Morgan Wallen. In 2016, he experienced his first #1 with Florida Georgia Line’s “May We All”. In 2020, Jamie had his second #1 and one of NSAI’s ‘10 Songs I Wish I’d Written’ with Morgan Wallen’s “Chasin’ You” followed by releases that he co-wrote and produced by Warner Records R&B artist, Bren Joy, and Motown Gospel artist Evvie McKinney. Jamie has recently become more interested in NSAI’s mission and in getting more involved with the organization.

Steinza

From Virginia Beach but based in Nashville. Some of the folks he’s written, produced, or collaborated with: Matt Maeson, Shaboozey, Dasha, Zach Seabaugh, Sam MacPherson, Paris Jackson, Caleb Hearn, Braden Bales, and he’s currently getting a good buzz and is on the billboard charts with his co-write and production of “Low Road” by Adrien Nunez. Definitely in the younger, hipper, up and coming writer category.